Affectiva Automotive AI identifies, in real time from face and voice, complex and nuanced emotional and cognitive states of a vehicle’s occupants, to deliver comprehensive people analytics. This allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers to build advanced driver monitoring systems (DMS), as well as differentiated in-cabin experiences that span the autonomous vehicle continuum.

Affectiva’s solution also enables developers of automated driving systems to improve their technology for use in robo-taxis and other highly automated vehicles (HAV) in the emerging Automated Mobility sector.

To date, AI has allowed self-driving systems to understand what’s happening outside of the car.

Here’s the urgency: With one out of every 10 crashes caused by drowsy driving and 1,000 injuries daily in the U.S. involving distracted drivers, OEMs recognize the need to deploy in-cabin AI to improve road safety by identifying dangerous driving behavior.

As self-driving capabilities continue to advance, it will be important to monitor driver state, in real-time, to assess if the driver can assume control in semi-autonomous vehicles. And, as autonomous vehicles become commercially-available, Affectiva Automotive AI’s understanding of the in-cabin environment will shift to allow for the adaptation of the travel experience based on occupant moods and reactions.

“Affectiva is the only AI company that can deliver people analytics using algorithms that are built with custom-developed deep learning architectures,” said Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, CEO and co-founder, Affectiva. “We have built industry-leading Emotion AI, using our database of more than 6 million faces analyzed in 87 countries. We are now training on large amounts of naturalistic driver and passenger data that Affectiva has collected, to ensure our models perform accurately in real-world automotive environments. With a deep understanding of the emotional and cognitive states of people in a vehicle, our technology will not only help save lives and improve the overall transportation experience, but accelerate the commercial use of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles.”

Interfacing with a vehicle’s safety systems, Affectiva Automotive AI can identify complex driver impairment states caused by drowsiness, physical distraction or mental distraction from cognitive load or anger. This is significantly more advanced than current systems that rely on simplistic head pose and eye gaze measurements.

“Our Learning Intelligent Vehicle (LIV) was developed to shape consumer acceptance of autonomous vehicles by building two-way trust and confidence between human and machine,” said Ola Boström, Vice President of Research, Autoliv, Inc. “Supported by Affectiva’s AI, LIV is able to sense driver and passenger moods, and interact with human occupants accordingly. As the adoption and development of autonomous vehicles continues, the need for humans to trust that they’re safe at the hands of their vehicle will be critical. AI systems like Affectiva’s that allow vehicles to really understand occupants, will have a huge role to play, not only in driver safety but in the future of autonomy.”